The 7th/8th choir and Jazz band is having a joint concert on Thursday, March 19th at 7 p.m. in the La Grande Middle School Commons. It's the first choir concert since I've been at LMS, and I'm excited but I'm also a little worried.
We don't have a piano accompanist, mostly because we don't have the money to pay one (thanks to the budget freeze!) Where does that leave us? Using a CD recording. Blegh... I loathe singing along with CD accompaniment. For this I am called a music snob. Fine by me.
Singing along with a CD is almost sacrilege to me. Not only is it not authentic, it seems a crime to live in a town full of very talented people and have to use canned music!
The students treat it like singing along to the radio, which is part of the problem. They come into class and check-out, not even bothering to glance at the director. We'll see how the concert goes- if nothing else, the students do know their music really well.
Is there anyone out there willing to volunteer one or two days a week to play the piano for a choir class? Email me or post a comment.
Monday, March 16, 2009
It's Dynamic!
Have problems getting your singers to use a dynamic other than mezzo-blah? I used the following strategy today and it worked great. It connects the brain with a physical activity so it is great for kinesthetic learners.
Rehearse a piece of music as you normally would, but instruct students to change their body position as the dynamics change. Anytime the written dynamic is piano, they must sing from a sitting position. For mp, stand up just a little bit, mf a little more, and for f they should be standing fully erect. If ff is used they can stretch up on their toes. If there are crescendos that do not have a dynamic written in students still need to rise to show an increase in volume.
This can be quite a work-out if the piece of music you're singing has lots of dynamic changes. It can also be used to help students understand when and in which voice part the melody occurs.
Rehearse a piece of music as you normally would, but instruct students to change their body position as the dynamics change. Anytime the written dynamic is piano, they must sing from a sitting position. For mp, stand up just a little bit, mf a little more, and for f they should be standing fully erect. If ff is used they can stretch up on their toes. If there are crescendos that do not have a dynamic written in students still need to rise to show an increase in volume.
This can be quite a work-out if the piece of music you're singing has lots of dynamic changes. It can also be used to help students understand when and in which voice part the melody occurs.
My Top Five
Here are my top five warm-ups for choir that I've had the most success with. The students just love these!
1. Do-Re-Do Scale: Have students sing up and down the scale, in any key, using solfege syllables. Here is an example: Do, Do-Re-Do, Do-Re-Mi-Re-Do, Do-Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re-Do, and so on until reaching the octave. Then sing back down: Do, Do-Ti-Do, Do-Ti-La-Ti-Do, and so on until reaching the bottom. Variations: Divide the choir into two groups and have one start at the bottom and the other at the top; Quicken the tempo and challenge students to sing up in one breath, and down in one breath; Have students close their eyes while singing to practice active listening and blending of pitch.
2. Count Down From Eight: This is a stretching exercise which students love! Start with the right hand and shake it while counting down from eight. Then repeat with the left hand, right foot, and left foot. Then start again, this time counting down from seven, and so on until reaching one. But there is a catch! The beginning dynamic must be pp and the ending dynamic must be ff. This means every time you reach a new number the volume must increase. Therefore the number four should be mf. Let your students know that while ff needs to be the loudest one can sing, they need to take care not to yell as it is not good for the voice.
3. Mommy Made Me Mash My M&M's: This silly phrase is sung using arpeggios from any key.
You can then modulate up or down.
4. Alphabet Exercise: This is a great exercise to loosen up the jaw, face, and lips. Speak only the consonants from the alphabet, starting with the letter B. In 4/4 time, use the rhythm triplet-triplet-triplet-4. For example: buh-buh-buh, buh-buh-buh, buh-buh-buh, buh. Then Cuh for the letter C and so on. As students become more familiar with this, increase the tempo.
5. Lip Buzzes: Have students buzz their lips along with five-note arpeggios in any key. You can buzz the whole arpeggio from 1-5 and back down again, or just buzz from 5-1, then modulate up or down. Be sure to let your students know that this takes not only a ton of air, but that it must be released in a steady stream, similar to squeezing a tube of toothpaste. Young singers commonly do not utilize the air they breathe in.
1. Do-Re-Do Scale: Have students sing up and down the scale, in any key, using solfege syllables. Here is an example: Do, Do-Re-Do, Do-Re-Mi-Re-Do, Do-Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re-Do, and so on until reaching the octave. Then sing back down: Do, Do-Ti-Do, Do-Ti-La-Ti-Do, and so on until reaching the bottom. Variations: Divide the choir into two groups and have one start at the bottom and the other at the top; Quicken the tempo and challenge students to sing up in one breath, and down in one breath; Have students close their eyes while singing to practice active listening and blending of pitch.
2. Count Down From Eight: This is a stretching exercise which students love! Start with the right hand and shake it while counting down from eight. Then repeat with the left hand, right foot, and left foot. Then start again, this time counting down from seven, and so on until reaching one. But there is a catch! The beginning dynamic must be pp and the ending dynamic must be ff. This means every time you reach a new number the volume must increase. Therefore the number four should be mf. Let your students know that while ff needs to be the loudest one can sing, they need to take care not to yell as it is not good for the voice.
3. Mommy Made Me Mash My M&M's: This silly phrase is sung using arpeggios from any key.
You can then modulate up or down.
4. Alphabet Exercise: This is a great exercise to loosen up the jaw, face, and lips. Speak only the consonants from the alphabet, starting with the letter B. In 4/4 time, use the rhythm triplet-triplet-triplet-4. For example: buh-buh-buh, buh-buh-buh, buh-buh-buh, buh. Then Cuh for the letter C and so on. As students become more familiar with this, increase the tempo.
5. Lip Buzzes: Have students buzz their lips along with five-note arpeggios in any key. You can buzz the whole arpeggio from 1-5 and back down again, or just buzz from 5-1, then modulate up or down. Be sure to let your students know that this takes not only a ton of air, but that it must be released in a steady stream, similar to squeezing a tube of toothpaste. Young singers commonly do not utilize the air they breathe in.
Solo and Ensemble
Saturday, March 7th was the annual Solo and Ensemble competition which took place in Hermiston. We took seven students: three instrumentalists and four vocalists.
I would have to say that mostly every one was successful, despite a few break downs. Bad performance experiences can scar a person for life, but I'm grateful that the few students who had some minor mess-ups are back in band playing their little hearts out.
In this age of fast technology, fast food, instant gratification, and McDonaldization of, well... about everything, we are taught to believe that music must be perfect every time you perform it, and it must sound the same every time, too. But music is live art, not canned art. If you want a song to sound the same every time, listen to a recording of it.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun watching my vocal students at Solo and Ensemble step out and perform. It was encouraging for me when the judge reinforced everything I taught them. Now they can see that I DO know what I'm talking about!
I would have to say that mostly every one was successful, despite a few break downs. Bad performance experiences can scar a person for life, but I'm grateful that the few students who had some minor mess-ups are back in band playing their little hearts out.
In this age of fast technology, fast food, instant gratification, and McDonaldization of, well... about everything, we are taught to believe that music must be perfect every time you perform it, and it must sound the same every time, too. But music is live art, not canned art. If you want a song to sound the same every time, listen to a recording of it.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun watching my vocal students at Solo and Ensemble step out and perform. It was encouraging for me when the judge reinforced everything I taught them. Now they can see that I DO know what I'm talking about!
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